Bottle-protector.



.l. E. COSGRIFF.

BOTTLE PROTECTOR. icmou FILED SEPT 24 APP v 1915. 1 1 88,904. Patented June 27, 1916.

WITNESSES A TTOR/VEYS W By W an erases raranr @FFKQE JOHN E. coscaarrr, oF-nEw YORK, N. Y.

BOTTLE-PROTECTOR.

Application filed September 24, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN E. Goscmrr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Bottle-Protector, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to protectors for bottles or the like, and has particular reference to a means for protecting a childs nursing bottle.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a cage-like protector to prevent breakage of the bottle due to impinging against the floor, crib, chair, or other dev1ce.

Another object of the invention is to provide a convenient means for attaching the bottle to a flexible strap or the like whereby it is impossible for a child to throw the bottle beyond his reach.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the nature above set forth which will be easily and thoroughly cleansable and hence of a sanitary nature, and also which may be easily fitted to any one of a number of bottles.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodi ment thereof, reference is had to the accompanying drawing in which the figure is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the invention.

At B is indicated a popular form of childs nursing bottle fitted with a nipple N. Under ordinary conditions a bottle of this character is apt to be dropped or thrown unless it is watched constantly by a nurse or other person. The result is that such bottles are frequently broken, a circumstance obviously dangerous in addition to the loss of the food and expense otherwise entailed.

The protector as indicated is in the nature of a cage into which the bottle B is fitted and secured. The cage comprises a plurality of vertical parallel bars 10 and a series of circumferential rings 11. The ver tical bars are shown as four in number and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 2'7, 1916.

Serial No. 52,399.

are connected to one another at their lower ends in any suitable manner. As shown, however, each bar is connected across the bottom of the bottle by means of a bar 12 which may be considered as a continuation of the two opposite vertical bars to which it is connected. In other words, the two bars 12 at the bottom intersect each other at substantially a right angle and have their ends connected to the several vertical bars. The annular members 11 are solid or continuous, but at the upper end of the cage is a circumferential member 11 of an open nature, the ends being fitted with any suitable form of connecting devices, such as shown at 18, and comprising a hook and eye or their equivalent. The upper ends 1-1 of the vertical bars are free and are each fitted with a cushionl ike ball 15 which rest flexibly around the mouth of the bottle.

Vithout special limitation to the material of which the main cage structure is made, it may be suggested that it is preferably constructed of a high grade quality of rubber vulcanized to a desired degree of hardness. The cage, however, is preferably sufliciently flexible or resilient to adapt it to be fitted around standard bottles of slightly varying sizes or shapes and to make the attachment device 13 functional and effective.

The joints 16 connecting the vertical and transverse members and also the intersecting members 12 are preferably of rubber and constitute cushions to protect the bottle from damage and to hold the other members of the structure slightly spaced from the surface of the bottle.

One of the principal purposes of the device is to provide a convenient means for connecting a strap 17 or other similar flexible attachment means to the bottle. The device being designed particularly for use in poor families where the small children cannot have the privilege of constant care, it is important that the bottle be protected in such a manner that it cannot be readily broken as would be the result of its dropping from the childs hand to the floor or pavement. The strap 17 may be of any convenient length to keep the bottle within reach of the child and may be attached at one end to any convenient article of furniture and its other end may be detachably connected to any suitable part of the protector cage. For this purpose I provide a ring 18 made preferably of metal and secured in or about one of the joints 16.

This device may be made in any substantial manner and sold at a low cost. The nature of the material employed is such that the bottle may be slipped into place as shoivn, after which the fastening devices 13 are connected, holding the bottle firmly in place. When desired or necessary, the fasteners may be detached from each other, allowing the protector to be slipped from the bottle for the purpose of thorough sterilization of the parts.

I claim 1. In a bottle protector, the combination of a plurality of substantially vertical parallel resilient bars, a plurality of resilientcross connectors for the lower ends'of the bars intersecting one another at the bottom,

2. The herein described protector cage for a bottle, the same comprising an even number of substantially vertical flexible rubber bars, each bar having a bottom member eX- tending to an opposite bar, these two bars and the connecting memberbeing in effect a single element and the bottom connecting members intersecting one another at the axis of the bottle, a plurality of circumferential transverse flexible rubber members each of unitary integral nature, and a single transverse circumferential member having an opening with fastening means to secure the same around the tapered portion of the bottle, the upper ends of the bars first described having enlarged cushions thereon and being free and terminating adjacent the mouth of the bottle, substantially as and for the pur poses set forth.

JOHN E. COSGRIFF.

WVitnesses:

Gno. L. BnnLnn, PHILIP D. RoLLHAUs.

Copies of this patent mey be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commiuioner of Patents Washington, I). 0. 

